This invention relates to a fluid applicator engagement device. In particular, the invention relates to said engagement device for an applicator for a viscous fluid coating composition, such as paint.
Paint and other coating compositions for application to large surface areas are normally supplied in large buckets or drums. In South Africa, typical bucket sizes in which paint is normally supplied to domestic consumers include both round and polygonal cylindrical 20 and 25 liter buckets. When paint is to be applied by an applicator such as a roller, the paint is normally dispensed into a tray in which a roller surface will be brought into contact with paint and the paint is applied to the roller surface. This tray has a small capacity and must be regularly refilled. The large paint bucket, especially the twenty five liter bucket, normally has a diameter greater than the axial length of the roller. Thus painters are inclined to saturate the roller directly in the bucket thereby obviating the necessity of charging and recharging the tray, and thereby also attempting to maximise the surface coverage per charge of paint on the roller. Although this technique has its advantages, a major problem arises in that the roller does not turn on its bearings when brought into contact with the paint so that it does not operate satisfactorily as the roller is submerged in the paint Furthermore, the paint needs to be stirred periodically and thus any obstruction of the mouth of the bucket which does not permit stirring of the paint in the bucket without first removing the obstruction is undesirable.
According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a fluid applicator engagement device useful for an applicator for a fluid to be applied from a container, said device having a support sized and dimensioned complementarily to the container to permit axial movement of said support within the container, said device having fluid applicator engaging means co-operating with said support, said device being characterised in that a substantially central opening is provided to permit a stirrer element to be inserted therethrough into the container for, in use, stirring the fluid in the container and also facilitating maximum fluid contact with the applicator therethrough.
The support may be of a material selected to float on the fluid in the container. Thus the axial movement of the device in the container may be due to the device floating on a changing fluid level within the container.
The substantially central opening may be circular, oval, polygonal, rectangular, square, or the like.
In this specification, unless the context clearly indicates to the contrary, the terms xe2x80x9cfloatxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cfloatablexe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cfloatingxe2x80x9d, are to be understood as meaning that the applicator engagement device is only slightly submerged and in large part lies on top of the fluid surface.
The support may be a support in the form of a ring.
The ring may define the periphery of the device.
The support may be of larger cross sectional dimension than the axial length of the fluid applicator with which it is to be used, said support being adapted to float at or on the surface of the fluid with the fluid applicator engaging means at or just above the surface of the fluid.
Where the fluid applicator is a roller, the support and fluid applicator engaging means are adapted so that the roller can be rolled over at least part of the fluid applicator engaging means and come in contact with the fluid in the container.
Typically, the fluid in the container is a coating composition, such as paint, and the roller picks up the paint onto its applicator surface or nap by the action of rolling it over the fluid applicator engaging means and bringing the applicator surface or nap into contact with the paint surface in the container.
The fluid applicator engaging means conveniently comprises spaced arms within the support, conveniently including a centre piece from which the arms radiate.
The arms may be made of a flexible material, the length of the arms determining the freedom of movement of the centre piece relative to the support.
The arms may be made of a resiliently deformable material.
The centre piece may be biased by the resiliently deformable arms into the plane of the support, or to any other required plane which determines the depth of immersion of the applicator engaging element in the fluid.
The centre piece may comprise the substantially central opening. Projections are preferably provided on the centre piece and/or the arms to engage the fluid applicator, where the fluid applicator is a roller, to cause it to rotate.
However, an upper surface of the arms may be substantially co-planar with the plane of the support.
The support may conveniently be of inverted channel-shape section to assist it to float.
The support and/or the arms and/or the centre piece may be provided with an axially directed lip or flange to increase the fluid drag of the device and to inhibit dunking thereof in the fluid.
The support may however be made of any material having a density lower than that of the fluid in the container, for example, wood, plastic, polyurethane foam, foam rubber, polystyrene, rubber, or the like.
The support is typically made of a material which has a buoyancy only slightly higher than that of the fluid.
The support may be made of a plastic material having a cellular nature, such that the air trapped in the cells contributes to the buoyancy thereof. The cells may be small to inhibit the entrapped air in the cells from escaping if the device is tilted at an angle to the containers longitudinal axis.
The projections may comprise elongated lugs which are upstanding above the plane of the support. Alternatively the projections may be triangular lugs, or the like.
In another embodiment, the support is non-planar in cross section and adapted to include a fluid applicator engaging portion while being provided with a stirrer aperture configured to permit the fluid in the container to be stirred without removing the applicator engagement device from the container.
Typically the support of this embodiment is dimensioned to engage the end zones of a roller fluid applicator, such as a paint roller, and to bring said applicator into contact with the fluid in the container.
In a typical embodiment, the cross section is arcuate, for example, parabolic, hyperbolic, or the like.
The applicator engagement device may be provided with a floor co-operable with the support, the floor being adapted to permit engagement with a fluid applicator while permitting a desired quantity of fluid to come into contact with the applicator.
The device may have a logo, or other information provided thereon, such that when the applicator engagement device is floating in a fluid the logo or other information may be read.
The floor may have a plurality of perforations distributed over its extent, or be in the form of a grid or an apertured screen.
According to a further aspect of the invention there is provided a container for a fluent coating composition, the container including a lid and an applicator engagement device substantially as described above.
The fluid engagement device may be integral with the lid, the lid being provided with removable zones configured such that when the removable zones are removed the remainder of the lid forms said device in accordance with the invention.
The removable zones may have frangible borders to the remainder of the lid in order to facilitate removal thereof.